NOTE: The physicians below are speaking in their capacity as members of the Committee to Protect Medicare. They should be identified only as indicated in this news release.

PHILADELPHIA – The Committee to Protect Medicare Monday called Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai’s recommendation to send children back to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic “reckless and dangerous.”

“Speaker Mike Turzai forgets that the public health impact of closing schools isn’t just to keep kids safe but to keep everyone safe, by preventing kids from bringing the virus home to their siblings, parents and elderly grandparents,” said Max Cooper, MD, an emergency physician and member of the Committee to Protect Medicare. “If Mr. Turzai had fully understood the medical concepts he felt comfortable enough to discuss, he would have realized that sending kids back to their classrooms during a pandemic that has killed more than 3,400 Pennsylvanians is reckless and dangerous. Instead of spreading misinformation, Mr. Turzai should be supporting robust social distancing measures and urging the Trump Administration to better protect the people of Pennsylvania with a coherent nationwide plan that can keep people safe from COVID-19.”

In a video recording, Turzai claimed children can develop “herd immunity” and are “not at risk unless they have an underlying medical issue.”

Epidemiology researchers say 70 percent or more of the U.S. population would need to be immune to COVID-19 to reach herd immunity. Without a vaccine, over 200 million Americans would have to get infected with the novel coronavirus before the nation reaches the 70-percent threshold. At the current pace of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States – with over 25,000 confirmed cases a day – herd immunity could be attained in 2021. If current daily death rates continue, more than half-a-million Americans would be dead from COVID-19 by that time.

About the Committee to Protect Medicare

The Committee to Protect Medicare is an advocacy organization made up of frontline doctors engaging in direct advocacy and communications in support of a stronger healthcare system in America. To learn more:http://committeetoprotect.org/